CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT
Setting her coffee mug down, Manda buried her face in her hands, the tears winning this time and leaking from her tightly shut eyes. What was she gonna do? He was just so freaking sweet.
She took her coffee into her borrowed room. Showered, dressed in jeans, her cute ankle boots and the dark red top, with her hair fixed and light makeup on, she ventured outside with her phone.
In back of the club was a large paved area with barbecues standing to one side, and a number of patio tables and chairs grouped around a bricked-in fire pit. The sun was shining, and although a breeze flirted through the branches of a line of scrubby evergreens off the west side of the area, it was warm close to the building.
She sat down with her phone, intending to read for a bit to calm her mind—and to escape her own turmoil for a while into the travails of a fictional heroine. Maybe not what she needed to be doing right now, but the temptation was strong. But as her finger wavered over the reading app on her phone, it burbled Chloe's ringtone .
The instant Manda said hello, Chloe started talking. "Hey, girlfriend. How are you? And where are you? Did you find a job yet, and an apartment? And is that biker still after you?"
Manda took a shaky breath. "That's a lot of questions, Chlo-rina. I'm okay, I'm still at the Flyers' club house... and what was the rest of that?"
"You're still there?" Chloe sounded disappointed. "How's the job hunt going?"
"Just getting started," Manda confessed. "I have a list, and tomorrow I'm on it." Because my black eye and fat lip are finally almost gone, she did not add.
"Okay, great. How about the biker? Did you lay it out with him yet? Let him know you're on the rebound, and you need some space?"
"No, but I will," Manda promised. "Now enough about me. How did your big test go?"
"Good, I think. Test scores won't be posted until Tuesday. But I'm thinking of changing my major."
It was Manda's turn to scold. "What? You're so close to getting your degree in education, and being able to teach. Why would you want to change now?"
"Well," her friend said slowly. "I still want to work in the schools. But I've been thinking, maybe I'd rather be a counselor. Work with the kids that need emotional support, you know?"
"You'd be a great counselor," Manda had to admit. "God knows you've spent enough time counseling me. And your other friends."
"I know, right? It's what feels good for me. Which brings me to the final point I want to make with you, sweetie. If this T-Bear guy really likes you, he'll be willing to back off, and take it slow for you. If not, then..."
"Then all he wants is sex, I know," Manda said, rubbing her eyes, which just kept wanting to fill with tears. Gah, she wanted to scream, throw things and then go eat chocolate. "My dear mother just called and told me the same thing.” Only in much harsher terms.
She sighed heavily. “I'll talk to him. Now I have to go, okay?"
"Okay," Chloe said, her voice subdued. "Love you. Talk soon?"
"Love you too. Soon."
Manda ended the call and stared bleakly at the greening fields stretched out behind the clubhouse in the spring sunshine. A cloud slid over the sun, darkening the scene and robbing the patio of warmth.
It was now unanimous. Both her mom and her best friend thought she was a loser who latched onto one man after another, and needed to back off and get a spine. Okay, Chloe didn’t think she was a loser, just moving too fast as usual.
And they were no doubt both right, in their own ways. Her mom, because Manda did need to be able to support herself, no matter who she was involved with. And Chloe, because things had happened at break-neck speed between her and T-Bear. She'd known him less than two weeks. That was way too fast to wrap her life around him.
But that didn't mean she didn't want to wrap her arms—and maybe her legs—around him for one more day.
Thus, when he found her and invited her to go for a ride, she said yes.
Partly, it must be said, because of the way he looked in his riding gear. Holy hotness, he looked good. His unruly curls were tied back in a man bun, a black bandana over the top of his head and knotted behind. He wore his cut over a black knit thermal, a tee underneath, work pants, leather chaps and boots. He had sporty sunglasses on his head.
He immediately produced a leather jacket he'd borrowed for her from Billie, and a helmet borrowed from Sarah, who never rode without one. He grinned and told her that in her jeans, leather jacket and helmet she was a regular biker mama. Manda rolled her eyes at this, but she did it laughing.
"Ever been on a biker before?" T asked her as they walked out to where he'd parked his bike before the clubhouse.
Manda blinked, and he chuckled. "Gotcha. Yeah, you have—me. But, have you ever been on a bike?"
"You goof," she said. "No... unless you count riding a dirt-bike in high school."
He shook his head. "Nope. Too long ago, and a lot less power. So, the thing you gotta do is hang on, and lean with the bike. The rest'll be easy."
"Okay. I can do that." She could do a lot of things, if they meant she got to ride on the back of his amazing machine.
T-Bear's motorcycle was built on a scale like him—bigger than the average bear. With wide tires, gleaming chrome pipes and bars, gleaming black body, and black leather seats, it looked powerful even before he started up the motor. When that happened, a thrill raced through her.
That thrill intensified when she carefully climbed on behind him, stepping where he told her to step, and keeping away from the tailpipes which he informed her could leave ugly burns on her legs.
Whoa! The motor vibrated through her feet, legs and all the parts of her in contact with the leather seat. Wrapped in a package with T-Bear's scent—man, soap and leather... it was like being astride a giant vibrator.
Which was going to be her dirty little secret... unless she got tipsy. Under the influence, she had a tendency to admit things she shouldn't. Especially with the Flyers' old ladies. They were funny and sweet and so easy to talk to, she'd end up telling them way more than she should.
Right. She needed to swear off all alcohol for the next twenty years or so.
And men. But for today, she was going to indulge herself in this one.